


Check

by DarkInuFan



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Chess, Gen, Gifts, M/M, New Jersey Trollmarket, Troll Jim Lake Jr., coming home, epilogue? of a WIP, stone carving, troll!Toby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 04:33:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21112697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkInuFan/pseuds/DarkInuFan
Summary: Picking up the individual pieces and inspecting each one, he could see that the whole setup was sized for trollish hands, but not too unbearable for human hands either. “They’re perfect. I thought you said that you would never let a chess set into your house if it was the last thing you did.”“Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly just my house now, is it? So I can compromise if it makes you happy.”





	Check

**Author's Note:**

> I will warn you now: this is unedited and I just want this out there before I dump it completely.

“Hey, Tobes, can you take the cloth off the table? I need to go get something.” 

“Yeah, sure thing, Jimbo.” The table, unlike fragile human wooden ones, was a sturdy stone thing, carved to look deceptively delicate. Then again, that was just the four legs carved to look like thin roman columns. Careful to move Claire’s books and laptop off to a side shelf, he pulled off the cheap looking table cloth and folded it before putting it on the kitchen island. Jim could decide what to do with it later. Strange, though. Jim usually wasn’t one for table clothes except for when distant family was visiting. He took pride in how well-polished he kept the table in Arcadia, why would it have been any different in his own cave? It must be a Claire thing then.

Or not.

Looking at the bare tabletop for the first time, Toby gasped, running his hand reverently over the dual-toned pattern that covered the center of the table. 

“Do… you like it?” Jim came back into the room with a shy smile and a squat box in his hands.

“Like it?” Toby looked between the table and Jim with an ever-widening smile. “I love it.”

“Good.” Putting the box down onto the table, he slid it in Toby’s direction. “I made the pieces too. I had to re-make one of them, though, or I would have given this to you a while ago.”

Picking up the individual pieces and inspecting each one, he could see that the whole setup was sized for trollish hands, but not too unbearable for human hands either. “They’re perfect. I thought you said that you would never let a chess set into your house if it was the last thing you did.” Absently, Toby started setting up the table with ‘white’ pieces. In the front was a row of magnesite gnomes, half with red and the other with blue dyed hats.

“Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly just my house now, is it?” Jim murmured with a wry smile, taking the magnesite goblins (half dyed green, half left white) and setting up the ‘black’ side. “So I can compromise if it makes you happy.” He set down a serpentine bishop carved like Strickler. “Does it?” 

“Yeah.” Staring at his own visage carved in fire agate, Toby held it up to Jim. “I take it the one you had to re-do?” 

“Yeah,” flipping the statue to show the bottom, it had the date and the knight symbol carved on the bottom. “Yours was made out of, uh… just let me go get it. You’re better than I am with rock names.” Pulling down a small statuette from a knick-knack shelf, Jim handed over the original Toby Knight piece.

“Oh, Citrine quartz. I did change quite a lot, didn’t I?” cradling the figure, he got an idea. “Why don’t you carve everyone, and then we can have pieces to switch out? Like if we feel like making Strickler a white piece, or NotEnrique a black one.”

“Reenacting battles then, huh?”

“Well, yeah. Chess was supposed to start with teaching battle tactics, so why not use it to hash out the stories?”

“Eugh.” Jim stuck his tongue out. He never was fond of chess in the first place, despite Nana Domzalski’s efforts to teach the boys. Sitting down, Jim put the empty box aside and stared down at the board. “One game. Then you have to find someone else to play with you.”

“Oh, yeah!” Toby grinned widely, sitting opposite. “I guess you’re black this time, so you’re up first.”

* * *

Ah, there you are, Master Jim, Tobias. I was wondering why it was so quiet this afternoon.” Blinky strode in and spoke before taking in the entire tableau. The boys were both sitting at the table with what Jim had called ‘Chess pieces’ strewn across it. Jim was staring down at the pieces, his hands balled under the table and a low moaning growl in his throat. Toby, on the other hand, was cackling gleefully as he used one of the statuettes (was that a statue of him?) to knock over a rather topheavy smoky quartz carving of Gunmar. 

“Check, and mate. Wanna go again? You lasted like twelve moves that time.”

“Mercy. Please. Can’t you find someone else to cream. Like Claire, or Blink. Heck, you probably taught Aaarrrgghh. Please tell me that you taught Aaarrrgghh.”

“Nope, never got around to teaching Wingman.” 

Jim sighed in relief, “Well, now that you have a big set, maybe you can-”

“Nana taught him instead while I played Vex.” Jim grimaced, remembering Nana as the senior citizen level Arcadia Chess Champion several years in a row. She was vicious old lady with a merciless rook.

“Dare I ask…?”

“Once he got the rules down, we’re about split.” Toby grinned, before picking up Aaarrrgghh’s moss agate bishop and contemplating it. “I can see how he became a general, understanding tactics like that.”

Jim smiled. “Yeah, it’s the quiet ones, huh?” Leaning to the side, Jim popped open a hidden drawer, lined with felt. “Here, when we need the table, we can store the pieces so they don’t get scratched. Blink, did you need something?” 

“No, I was just wondering what mischief you two had gotten into. Now, what game were you playing? I do believe I’ve seen something similar before, but with the variety these days, I’m not quite sure.”

“Just everyday chess. We were breaking in the set that Jimbo made me. Have you ever played before?” 

“I believe I have not. How does it go?” Seeing his chance, Jim stood up and offered his chair to Blinky. “I knew Master Jim was making a game of some sort, but he could never describe it well enough for us to play.”

“I’m going to leave you two to it and get dinner started.” And with that Jim beat a hasty retreat. 

Picking up scattered pieces, Toby showed Blinky the goblins and gnomes before slowly setting up the board. “These ones are called the Pawns…” 

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a cut scene from my 'precious stones' (Not final title) WIP that I just could not let go. I imagine with how into chess Nana is, that she taught both boys when they were little. With Toby, it is a thing they did together on family night. The first time Toby challenged Strickler to a chess match, Strickler thought he was in for an easy win. The fool. Then Strickler challenged Jim... Jim lost in three moves. There really is a chess club that Strickler runs at Arcadia High... but it has fight club rules, so nobody really knows who is a member. Just that at one point Toby won and wore a cut crystal pawn for a month as the reigning champion.
> 
> Also, you can find me at darkinufan.tumblr.com


End file.
